Separatists vote for leader in breakaway eastern Ukraine

Pro-Russian separatists will vote to set up a breakaway regional leadership in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk and Luhansk aiming to take their war-torn region closer to Russia and defying Kiev and the West as the big guns still boom across the territory.

Pro-Russian separatists will vote to set up a breakaway regional leadership in the eastern Ukraine region of Donetsk and Luhansk aiming to take their war-torn region closer to Russia and defying Kiev and the West as the big guns still boom across the territory.

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Ukrainians vote in an election that is likely to install a pro-Western parliament and strengthen President Petro Poroshenko's mandate to end separatist conflict in the east, but could fuel tension with Russia.

People vote in the election. Credit: Reuters

People wrapped up warmly on a cold, clear day to vote in the first parliamentary poll since protests in the capital Kiev last winter forced Moscow-backed leader Viktor Yanukovich to flee and ushered in a pro-Europe leadership under Poroshenko.

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted on Sunday as saying that the time had come for his country to modernise its nuclear and conventional arsenals.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Credit: PA Wire

"I don't think we are on the verge of a new arms race. At least, Russia definitely won't be part of it. In our case, it's just that the time has come for us to modernise our nuclear and conventional arsenals," Lavrov said, according to a transcript of an interview with Russia Today television published on its website.

A "significant" number of Russian troops have now withdrawn from Ukraine, a Nato spokesman said.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jay Janzen told Reuters: "There has been a significant pullback of Russian conventional forces from inside Ukraine, but many thousands are still deployed in the vicinity of the border.

"It is difficult to determine the number, as pro-Russian separatists control
several border crossings and troops are routinely moving back and forth.

"Further, Russian special forces are operating in Ukraine, and they are difficult to detect."